Donal Hickey: Do kids still need nature tables in their classrooms?
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Given the emphasis on biodiversity for young people it comes as a surprise to learn that nature tables — once a key part of every child’s education on our native flora and fauna — are increasingly not in classrooms.
A survey by Biodiversity in Schools, a youth training organisation, has found that almost half (46%) of teachers, state such tables are no longer in their classroom.
Main reason cited was a lack of classroom space for one. Of the, admittedly, small number of teachers (100) taking part in the project, 90% acknowledged that a nature table had been part of their own educational experience.
Asked how children can improve their knowledge of nature, there was a variety of responses, including the restoration of nature as a dedicated subject on the curriculum. That would create more opportunities for pupils to experience nature first-hand in a school setting.
The findings were issued to mark the launch of a pollinator project to raise awareness amongst children of the importance of pollinators like bees, butterflies, moths and hoverflies for flowers and supporting food systems. Free nature kits and workshops are provided to teachers and students by Biodiversity in Schools.
Pollinators are essential to human survival. They move pollen from flower to flower, thus enabling a plant to become fertile and to produce food and seeds.
Meanwhile, as we’re in the growing season, patches of pollinator-friendly habitat are again visible. Road verges are being left uncut, patches of wildlife meadows are appearing in parks and some people are allowing sections of their lawn go 'wild'.
Signs such as ‘bee friendly’ are appearing, indicating that towns and villages are helping pollinators with outdoor projects as, indeed, are schools. Another help to bees and insects is that our native hedgerows are flowering.
One-third of our 98 wild bee species are extinction-threatened and the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan aims to reverse this decline.
Bees and other insects are disappearing because we’ve drastically reduced the areas where they can nest and the amount of food our landscape provides for them.
People of a certain vintage often point out how, in years gone by, car windscreens would regularly have to be washed in summertime to get rid of all the dead insects... but that's no longer needed.
Since 2015, the Pollinator Plan has focused on ensuring everyone understands what pollinators need, and what simple actions anyone can take to provide them with food, shelter, and safety.
In the next phase, the plan seeks to get more people involved and is urging the restoration of more land for pollinators and other biodiversity. Farmers, councils, people gardening, and many others can all help.